After the Falcons shocked the football-following world by making quarterback Michael Penix Jr. the eighth overall pick in the 2024 draft, Cousins was asked by reporters whether he might have made a different decision in free agency if he’d known about the plan to take a quarterback.
“I don’t really deal in hypotheticals,” Cousins said at the time.
In the first episode of his second turn on the Quarterback series, he did.
After explaining that he picked Atlanta over Minnesota in free agency because the Vikings wanted to go “year-to-year” and the Falcons made a longer commitment, Cousins said he was “pretty surprised” by the news that Penix had been drafted in the top 10.
“I wasn’t expecting us to take a quarterback,” Cousins said. “At the time, it felt like I’d been a little bit misled — or certainly if I had the information around free agency, it certainly would have affected my decision. I had no reason to leave Minnesota with how much we loved it there, if both teams are gonna be drafting a quarterback high.”
Beyond loving Minnesota, Cousins was comfortable in Kevin O’Connell’s offense. It became clear during the first episode of Quarterback that Cousins felt a little overwhelmed by the offense in Atlanta.
“It’s different enough to feel like I’m starting over,” Cousins said regarding the Falcons offense.
One challenge came from the pre-snap motions and shifts, similar to what the Dolphins had been doing. “That was a lot to learn,” Cousins said.
It came to a head in Week 1, when a game-deciding fumble happened because of a miscommunication that resulted in a shotgun snap striking tight end Ross Dwelley, while he was going in motion past the center.
“I knew that was gonna happen,” Cousins said as he came off the field.
“I have to give the foot, then send you,” Cousins told Dwelley on the sideline. “I sent you and then gave the foot. And if I do that, we have no room for error. It’s a fumble every time. It was just — all week long, I was paranoid. I’m gonna do it one time and screw it up. And it did.”
It’s a tangible, and valuable, example for quarterbacks who are thinking about changing teams in the future. You never know what that team is going to do with its first-round pick. You never know how different the offense is going to be until you’re in it.
And you never know how it’s going to feel to line up “with a new team with a new system in a new home stadium” until it’s time to do it.
Two years ago, Quarterback on Netflix became the most pleasant surprise of the summer, an inside look at the 2022 seasons for Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, and Marcus Mariota.
Then came the 2023 season. And no quarterbacks wanted to do it.
So, last year, Quarterback took a seat. Receiver replaced it. And it wasn’t nearly as good.
Now Quarterback is back. It debuted today on Netflix. It’s Joe Burrow, Jared Goff, and Kirk Cousins.
All three had very different experiences last season. Burrow played the best of the bunch, but his team fell short of the postseason (in part because the Bengals is the Bengals). Goff continued to play extremely well, but the No. 1 seed became a one-and-done postseason. And Cousins struggled to return to form after the Achilles injury that ended his 2023 season in Week 8, before being benched.
If there’s anything worth posting, we’ll share it. If you think that counts as a spoiler, look away when you see anything with “Quarterback” or “Netflix” in the headline.
Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich says rookie linebacker James Pearce has a combination of size and speed that you just don’t see, even among the NFL’s most talented athlete.
Ulbrich said that he had watched film of Pearce playing edge rusher at Tennessee and was so impressed with how well he moved to blow past blockers and chase quarterbacks that he lost sight of how big Pearce is at 6-foot-5 and 248 pounds.
“I remember that first time I met him,” Ulbrich said, via AtlantaFalcons.com. “I was like, ‘Oh my god.’ . . . This was not what I was expecting. To be that size and have that sort of movement and speed? It’s special.”
Ulbrich said there are few 6-foot-5 athletes who show the quickness that Pearce displays.
“Evaluating him, you see the speed, you see the explosion, the ability to bend and turn the corner tight — all the things great rushers have — but the movement is so exceptional at times, that speed, that you think he is 6-foot-1, or 6-foot-2,” Ulbrich said. “You think he is a smaller man because the movement is fantastic.”
The Falcons made a bold trade up to get Pearce, giving up their 2026 first-round pick in the process. That’s a move a team only makes for a player they’re convinced is a special talent. Ulbrich thinks they mad the right move.
The Buccaneers announced on Tuesday when they will be breaking out their popular Creamsicle uniforms during the 2025 regular season.
The team will don the white helmets with their old logo along with their orange jerseys for a Week 15 Thursday night game against the Falcons. They also wore the uniforms in last season’s home date with Atlanta, but will be hoping for a better result than the 31-26 loss they suffered in Week 8.
Tampa wore the same uniforms from the franchise’s inception in 1976 through the 1996 season. They first wore them as an alternate uniform in 2009.
In addition to announcing the date for the Creamsicles, the Buccaneers announced themes for the rest of their home games. They will celebrate the start of their 50th season in the home opener against the Jets and they will induct edge rusher Simeon Rice into their Ring of Honor in Week 13.
The Falcons announced the signing of the UFL’s leading rusher, Jashaun Corbin, and the corresponding move.
The Falcons released running back Jase McClellan.
Atlanta drafted McClellan out of the University of Alabama with a sixth-round pick in 2024. He appeared in two games as a rookie, taking 19 offensive snaps and eight special teams snaps.
He had five carries for 17 yards in the Falcons’ Week 7 loss to the Seahawks and eight carries for 15 yards in the Falcons’ Week 11 loss to the Broncos. He went onto injured reserve in Week 15 with a knee injury.
Corbin joins a running backs room with Bijan Robinson, Tyler Allgeier, Carlos Washington Jr., Elijah Dotson and undrafted rookie Nathan Carter.
The Falcons are signing UFL running back Jashaun Corbin, James Larsen of UFL Newsroom reports.
Corbin played for the San Antonio Brahmas this spring and led the UFL in rushing with 514 yards and four touchdowns on 97 carries. He started six of the 10 games he played.
He added 18 receptions for 138 yards and returned 11 kicks for 252 yards with a long of 33. He fumbled once.
Corbin, 24, played at Texas A&M and Florida State, ending his four-year college career with third-team All-ACC honors for the Seminoles in 2021.
He went undrafted in 2022 and signed with the Giants as a rookie free agent. Corbin was on the Giants’ practice squad as a rookie. The Giants waived him before the start of the 2023 season, and the Panthers signed him to their practice squad.
He returned to the Giants’ practice squad later that season and ended up playing six games. He had one carry for 1 yard and caught three passes for 12 yards.
The Giants waived Corbin with an injury designation in August, and he signed with the Brahmas in October.
In Atlanta, he will join a running backs room with Bijan Robinson, Tyler Allgeier, Jase McClellan, Carlos Washington Jr., Elijah Dotson and undrafted rookie Nathan Carter.
Jared Bernhardt moved from lacrosse to football after a stellar collegiate career at Maryland and made it all the way to the NFL, but he’s now back to his original path.
Bernhardt won the Tewaaraton Award as the country’s top lacrosse player while at Maryland and then transferred to Ferris State to play wide receiver. He signed with the Falcons in 2022 and appeared in two games before going on the reserve/retired list in 2023. He returned to spend some time in the CFL, but is now playing in the Premier Lacrosse League.
Bernhardt said he has no regrets about his circuitous route over the last few years.
“Some people may have all the speculation about leaving at the top of your game, but for me, I just feel that was the right move for me,” Bernhardt said, via Edward Lee of the Baltimore Sun. “I wouldn’t change it. As I said, a lot of great experiences, ups and downs and a lot of good people you meet along the way, and if I didn’t do that, I wouldn’t have had that stuff. So I’m fortunate enough to have been able to go through all of that.”
Bernhardt has scored one goal in two games with the Denver Outlaws since his return.
Could veteran safety Justin Simmons end up on another NFC South club in 2025?
According to Joe Person of TheAthletic.com, the Panthers have been in touch with Simmons’ representation about potentially joining the team. But no signing is imminent at this time.
That makes sense, as Carolina wrapped up its minicamp last week and training camp isn’t set to begin until late July.
Simmons has familiarity with Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, who served in the same role with the Broncos in 2022. Simmons led the NFL with six interceptions that season.
A third-round pick in 2016, Simmons spent his first eight seasons with the Broncos before he was released. He then signed a one-year deal with the Falcons for 2024, starting 16 games with the club. Simmons finished the year with 62 total tackles, seven passes defensed, and two interceptions.
Simmons has 71 career passes defensed and 32 interceptions in 134 games with 124 starts.
The Falcons will host 11 open training camp practices this preseason, starting July 24, the team announced Thursday.
A limited number of tickets are available at no cost for fans.
On July 26, as part of the NFL’s Back Together Weekend, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris and General Manager Terry Fontenot will address fans at IBM Performance Field. Freddie Falcon, Falcons cheerleaders and former Falcons players also will be in attendance.
The Falcons’ joint practices with the Titans on Aug. 12-13 are among the team’s open practices. Those will be held at the team facility before the teams play a preseason game on Aug. 15 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The Aug. 13 joint practice is the team’s last open practice.
Though he signed a lucrative four-year deal with the Falcons last offseason, quarterback Kirk Cousins is slated to be the backup to Michael Penix Jr. in 2025.
Cousins told reporters on Wednesday that he would love to play, but isn’t going to dwell on things that aren’t reality — meaning he’s accepted his situation for the coming season.
To that end, Cousins also said that he’s going to do what he can to support Penix.
“Michael is going to do great,” Cousins said, via Tori McElhaney of the team’s website. “He is going to have a great career. He is off to a great start, and he has all of the tangibles and intangibles that you need to be successful. I am just here to support him as he needs it. But, I also don’t need to be in his ear so much that I am another weight, another voice. I just want to be able to support as I can, and he knows that.”
Head coach Raheem Morris said there’s “no doubt” Cousins can help Penix.
“Kirk’s played in this league for a long time, seen a lot of football, seen a lot of things,” Morris said in his Tuesday press conference. “When you have a voice like that in the room, that’s always going to be helpful.
“Everybody likes really good football players and being around them, and Kirk’s been a really good football player in this league for a long time. When you’re able to come off some of the history, some of the things that he’s been through. None of those things would be harmful for Mike at all.”
